ORLANDO, Fla., June 30, 2016 (hospitalitybusinessnews.com) — Darden Restaurants, Inc., today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended May 29, 2016. The fourth quarter of last year included an extra week of operations resulting in a 53 week fiscal 2015.

Due to the impact of the extra week of operations included in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, total sales from continuing operations decreased 4.7% to $1.79 billion; excluding the impact of the extra week, total sales from continuing operations increased 2.1%

“I’m pleased with the results we achieved during the fourth quarter, which wrapped up a year of significant progress improving our operations and financial performance,” said CEO Gene Lee. “These results reinforce our firm belief that our strategy is working as we continue to build guest loyalty by relentlessly focusing on our back-to-basics operating philosophy. This focus, together with our competitive advantages, drove our strong performance for the year and increased shareholder value.”

Fiscal 2016 Financial Highlights Versus Fiscal 2015

Total sales from continuing operations increased 2.5% to $6.93 billion, which includes the impact of the extra week of operations in fiscal 2015; excluding the impact of the extra week, total sales from continuing operations increased 4.4%

The company repurchased approximately $185 million of its outstanding common stock

Same-restaurant sales increased 3.3% for the year on both a fiscal and comparable calendar basis

+3.1% for Olive Garden

+3.9% for The Capital Grille

+2.3% for Yard House

+3.5% for LongHorn Steakhouse

+1.8% for Eddie V’s

+4.7% for Seasons 52

+4.8% for Bahama Breeze

Segment Performance Versus Same Fiscal Period Last YearSegment profit represents sales, less costs for food and beverage, restaurant labor, restaurant expenses and marketing expenses. Segment profit for fiscal 2016 includes the impact of additional rent expense related to the completion of our real estate strategy, primarily impacting Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. The results for the three and twelve month periods ending May 31, 2015 include an additional week of operations.

Total Sales

Three Months Ended

Twelve Months Ended

($ millions)

05/29/16

05/31/15

% Change

05/29/16

05/31/15

% Change

Weeks in Period

13

14

13vs14

52

53

52vs53

Consolidated Darden

$

1,790.2

$

1,878.3

-4.7

%

$

6,933.5

$

6,764.0

2.5

%

Olive Garden

$

981.8

$

1,037.4

-5.4

%

$

3,838.6

$

3,789.6

1.3

%

LongHorn Steakhouse

$

413.2

$

438.1

-5.7

%

$

1,587.7

$

1,544.7

2.8

%

Fine Dining

$

131.6

$

137.2

-4.1

%

$

514.1

$

500.1

2.8

%

Other Business

$

263.6

$

265.6

-0.8

%

$

993.1

$

929.6

6.8

%

Segment Profit Margin %*

Three Months Ended

Twelve Months Ended

($ millions)

05/29/16

05/31/15

Basis Diff

05/29/16

05/31/15

Basis Diff

Olive Garden

19.3%

20.3%

(100)

19.8%

18.5%

130

LongHorn Steakhouse

19.0%

17.8%

120

17.3%

15.5%

180

Fine Dining

20.1%

20.0%

10

19.5%

19.0%

50

Other Business

18.9%

18.9%

—

16.9%

15.5%

140

* Incremental rent from real estate transactions in fiscal 2016 negatively impacted segment profit margin % by 230bps, 130bps, 10bps and 60bps for the three months ended 05/29/2016 and by 140bps, 90bps, 0bps and 30bps for the twelve months ended 05/29/16 for Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining, and Other Business segments, respectively.

U.S. Same-Restaurant Sales Results – Fiscal Calendar Basis

Olive Garden

March

April

May

Q4

Same-Restaurant Sales

0.8%

0.2%

4.1%

1.6%

Same-Restaurant Traffic

0.3%

(2.4)%

1.7%

(0.1)%

Pricing

0.7%

0.7%

0.7%

0.7%

Menu-mix

(0.2)%

1.9%

1.7%

1.0%

LongHorn Steakhouse

March

April

May

Q4

Same-Restaurant Sales

0.0%

0.3%

3.1%

1.1%

Same-Restaurant Traffic

(5.4)%

(3.4)%

(0.1)%

(3.2)%

Pricing

1.8%

1.8%

1.8%

1.8%

Menu-mix

3.6%

1.9%

1.4%

2.5%

U.S. Same-Restaurant Sales Results – Comparable Calendar Basis

Olive Garden

March

April

May

Q4

Same-Restaurant Sales

1.7%

1.9%

3.8%

2.4%

Same-Restaurant Traffic

0.8%

(1.2)%

1.5%

0.4%

LongHorn Steakhouse

March

April

May

Q4

Same-Restaurant Sales

1.4%

1.7%

3.7%

2.2%

Same-Restaurant Traffic

(4.0)%

(2.0)%

0.4%

(2.0)%

Quarterly Dividend IncreaseThe Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend to $0.56 per common share, which represents a 12% increase over the Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The quarterly dividend is payable on August 1, 2016 to shareholders of record on July 11, 2016.

Share Repurchase ProgramDuring the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 0.7 million shares of its common stock for a total cost of approximately $45 million. This leaves approximately $315 million remaining under the current $500 million repurchase authorization.

Fiscal 2017 Financial Outlook

Same-restaurant sales growth of 1.0% to 2.0%

New unit openings of 24 to 28 restaurants

Total capital spending of $310 to $350 million

Total inflation of 1.5% to 2.0%

Earnings per diluted share of $3.80 to $3.90

The EPS outlook reflects approximately 128.5 million diluted average common shares outstanding for the year